Carol of the Bells

We just learned about the carol Good King Wenceslas.

Another famous Christmas carol is Carol of the Bells.

This music for this song comes from the Ukraine, and used to be a song about spring time and happy birds.
Long ago in the Ukraine, the new year was in April, so the new year's celebration was in the spring.
When the people of the Ukraine became Christians, they moved the new year's celebration to the winter.
The song about birds in the cold didn't make much sense, so someone wrote this song about Christmas and used the same music.

The words were written by Peter Wilhousky, an American whose family had come to America from the Ukraine long ago.


(from: wikipedia - carol of the bells)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Swiss Guard

Michelangelo - Sistine Chapel - The Sacrifice of Noah

We just learned about Michelangelo's painting of The Sistine Chapel - The Fall and Expulsion from Paradise.

Another painting from Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel was The Sacrifice of Noah.

This is a painting from the Bible story of Noah, after the flood was over and he got off the ark he offered up animals to God to show he was thankful.

The painting shows Noah at an altar, while some other people bring in animals to give as offerings to God.


(from: wikipedia - sistine chapel ceiling)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Dogon Mother and Child - Jerry Harrys

Hindi - Six, seven, eight, nine, ten

We learned in Hindi that 1-5 is एक (ek), दो (do), तीन (teen), चार (chaar), पांच (paanch).

Now let's count up to ten!

6 छह (chhah) - sounds like ch-ay - 文A

7 सात (saat) - sounds sah-t - 文A

8 आठ (aath) - sounds like ah-t - 文A

9 नौ (nau) - sounds like no-ah - 文A

10 दस (das) - sounds like dah-s - 文A



(from: wikipedia - devanagari)

Do you remember how to say it in other languages?

Swahili: sita, saba, nane, tisa, kumi

Russian: шесть (shest'), семь (sem'), восемь (vosem'), девять (devyat'), десять (desyat')

Norwegian: seks, syv, åtte, ni, ti

Greek: έξι, εφτά, οχτώ, εννέα, δέκα

ASL: Six, seven, eight, nine, ten

Italian: sei, setto, otto, nove, dieci

German: seis, sieben, acht, neun, zehn

Spanish: seis, siete, ocho, nueve, diez

French: six, sept, huit, neuf, dix

Processor

We just learned about the Motherboard.

Another part of a computer is the Processor, also called a Central Processing Unit or CPU for short.

This is the brain of the computer, that is hooked up to the motherboard.
When you type on the computer or move your mouse, those messages get sent to the motherboard and then the processor.
The processor takes in all of that input and then controls the other parts of the computer like the monitor, speakers, or anything else hooked up to the computer.

When you are doing things on the computer like watching videos or opening websites, the processor is working hard to make all of those programs work on the computer as fast as it can.



(from: wikipedia - central processing unit)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Blastpipe

Gerp's Mouse Lemur

We just learned about the Greater Dwarf Lemur.

Another type of lemur is the Gerp's Mouse Lemur, also called microcebus gerpi.

Mouse lemurs are the smallest type of primate in the world, and they are usually about the size of a small mouse but with a longer fuzzy tail.
The Gerp's Mouse Lemur only grows to be about 2 ounces, and is only a few inches long.
Like all lemurs it lives only on the island of Madagascar.

These primates mostly live up in little nests in the trees almost like birds nest.
Their fur is mostly a brownish grey with some red and white on their bellies or faces.


(from: wikipedia - gerp's mouse lemur)



Tiny lemur has super strength!! - Discovery Canada



Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Cyprus Cat

Tensor Tympani

We just learned about the Stapedius Muscle.

Another muscle in the ear is the Tensor Tympani.

This muscle is in the middle ear and is connected to the malleus or hammer bone.
When you are chewing your food that would be really loud in your ears since the ear is right by the mouth.
But the tensor tympani muscle tightens up when you are chewing and that helps to block the sounds that your mouth makes so it is not so loud when you eat.


(from: wikipedia - tensor tympani muscle)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Phagocytosis

Belize

We just learned about the country of Haiti

Let's learn a little about the country of Belize!

This country is in Central America, and borders Mexico, the Caribbean Se, and Guatemala.
It is about 23,000 square miles, and about 419,000 people live there.
The people in this country mostly speak English, Creole or Spanish.
Belize is the only country in Central America that has English as one of it's official languages.


(from: wikipedia - belize)

The flag of Belize has sideways stripes of red, blue and red for the two different groups of people there that run the country.
In the middle is the Belize coat of arms, which shows the history of logging by the British in the country long ago.


(from: wikipedia - flag of belize)

To eat in this country you might have a fry jack, which is fried dough kind of like a donut.


(from: wikipedia - fry jack)

Visiting this country you might go see El Castillo, which means "the castle", a 130 foot tall castle built by the Mayans long ago.

(from: wikipedia - xunantunich)

Near the coast of Belize is a giant sinkhole called The Great Blue Hole.
It is about 400 feet deep, and 1,000 feet wide, and is a famous place for scuba diving.
The famous diver Jacque Cousteau said it was one of the top 5 best scuba diving places in the world.


(from: wikipedia - great blue hole)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Bulgaria